Why Is This Your Character’s Story To Tell?

I watched an interesting webinar recently. Part of it focused on the title question of this post. At first I thought: ‘What do you mean? It’s this character’s story to tell because the events happen to them!’ Then, as the webinar progressed, the penny dropped. The events of a story often impact more than your main character, so why is their perspective the focus?

Superficially, a story has a series of external events with external conflict and external stakes.

Example: Chief Brody battles a Great White Shark which is threatening the lives of locals and tourists on Amity Island.

But, on a deeper level, we need to know why the story is personal to that individual character, what the internal conflict is, and what’s at stake for them that’s unique from other characters. Here’s a re-written version of the above:

Chief Brody, who has a fear of water, must battle a Great White Shark which is not only threatening the lives of locals and tourists, but is also damaging Amity Island’s economic prosperity and putting the Chief into conflict with his friend, the Mayor.

Hopefully you can see why the author, Peter Benchley, focused the story of Jaws on Chief Brody’s perspective. He’s the character with the greatest internal and external conflict, for him the stakes are even higher than for the average islander: he’s the one responsible for keeping everyone on the island safe; he’s the one who pushes back against the Mayor’s desire to keep the beach open; he’s the one who faces his fear by venturing out onto the water to hunt down the shark. Yes, the story could have focused on the experience of a different character, but would it have been as gripping?

Tied into this is having an understanding of what’s important to the protagonist. This is what drives them to make the decisions that they do, and to act in the way they do. This is what makes them care. And because they care, hopefully the reader does too.

Example: Brody is a responsible and conscientious Police Chief. His priority is to protect the citizens of Amity Island, regardless of the impact on local businesses. It’s important to him to stand up for what’s right. When he’s overruled and the beach is re-opened, he takes it upon himself to be vigilant, stationing himself on the beach as a look-out, then, later, to be part of the small team which go hunting for the shark, overcoming his fear of water for the greater good.

Experience

I’ve been reflecting on my own novels, both completed and my works-in-progress. I’m interrogating my choices and characters on a deeper level. Have I chosen the right character’s perspective to focus on? Have I demonstrated why the story’s main issue is uniquely personal to them, and why the stakes are higher for them than for any other character? If not, what do I need to change – their circumstances? Backstory? Motivation? Fears? Do they have a secret that needs to stay hidden? Are they trying to protect a loved one? Are they motivated by guilt? If x happens, will they have to face y? etc etc etc.

Final Thoughts

Why have you chosen this protagonist as the focus of your story? What makes it personal for them? How are the stakes higher for them than any other character you could have chosen?

Can you think of any other examples from films or novels which demonstrate how the events are personal for the focus character?